MILWAUKEE -- No. 2 seed Michigan began its quest to get back to the Final Four on Thursday as the Wolverines came out strong in the first half by shooting 63.6 percent from the field. The Michigan defense took care of the rest as the Wolverines won, 57-40, over No. 15 seed Wofford during a Midwest Regional Round of 64 game at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
The Terriers’ defense kept them in the second half, as they held Michigan to just nine points in the first 12 minutes of the half after Michigan led, 34-20, at the break, but Wofford could never get over the hump after cutting the lead to 40-33 with 9:15 remaining on a Karl Cochran three-pointer.
After the teams traded missed jumpers, Michigan senior center Jordan Morgan made a three-point play and the Wolverines held on from there as the Terriers struggled to 34 percent shooting from the field (18-for-53) and five percent shooting from the three-point line (1-for-19).
The Wolverines put the game out of reach in the final five minutes as sophomore guard Caris LeVert (six points), freshman point guard Derrick Walton (six points) and sophomore wing Nik Stauskas all knocked in three-pointers to push Michigan to victory.
Stauskas led the Wolverines with 15 points, while sophomore Glenn Robinson III -- playing in front of his dad, former Milwaukee Bucks forward Glenn Robinson -- scored 11 of his 14 points in the first half. Morgan also added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Michigan. The Wolverines (26-8) finished the game shooting 47 percent from the field (22-for-46) and 41 percent from three-point range (7-for-17).
Cochran, a junior guard, led Wofford (20-13) with 17 points.
No. 2 seed Michigan advances to face the winner of the No. 7 seed Texas and No. 10 seed Arizona State game on Saturday in the Midwest Regional’s Round of 32 in Milwaukee.
